Tension device for use in making fences



(No Model.)

A. N. .0ALD WELL.

TENSION DEVICE FOR USE IN MAKING FENCES. No. 361,395. I

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT CALDWELL, OF LEBANON, INDIANA.

TENSION DEVICE FOR USE IN MAKING FENCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,395, dated April19, 1887.

Application filed February 17, 1887. Serial No. 227,929.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT N. CALDWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lebanon, in the county of Boone and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and useful Im provement in Tension Devices for Use inMaking Fences, of which the following is a speci I trating my improveddevices.

fication.

My invention relates to an improvement in tension devices and wrenchesfor making fences; and it consists in the peculiar construction andcombination of devices, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter,and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fence in course ofconstruction, and illus- Fig. 2is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 isa detailed view of one of the wrenches. Fig. 4 is asimi= lar view of oneof the tension devices.

A represents a series of tension devices that are attached to a post, B,erected at a suitable distance beyond one end of the proposed line offence; The said tension devices consist each of a pair of plates, 0,which are clamped together by means of a U -shaped yoke or clip-bolt, B.The said yoke or clipbolt embraces three sides of the post B, and theplates 0 are provided near'their extremities with transverse openings,in which the ends of the clip-bolts are inserted. Clampingnnts E arescrewed onto the threaded ends of the clip-bolts and serve to compressthe plates together and secure them at any desired vertical adjustmentupon the post. The wires a, between which the pickets b of the fence areinserted, are passed through thetension devices aud bear between theopposing sides of the plates 0, the said wires being arranged in pairs,one wire of each pair being above the clip-bolt and the other wire beingbelow the same, as shown in Fig. 1.

F represents my improved wrench for twisting the wires, and therebysecuring the pickets between them. The said wrench comprises four radialarms, G, which project from a common center and have their outer endsrounded, as shown. Between the inner ends of the said radial arms areaseries of four radial notches or recesses, H.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

(No model.)

there are pairs of wires, and insert the said I wrenches between thewires, so as to cause the latter to enter notches or recesses in thewrenches that are opposed to each other. The said wrenches are thenmoved forward between the wires toward the startingpost. A picket isthen inserted between the wires in a vertical position, and the wrenchesare turned, one after another, so as to cause the wires to be twisted infront of the pickets. The wrenches are then moved forward on the wires asuitable distance, and a second picket is inserted between the wires infront of theportions thereof which are twisted together. The wrenchesare then turned, as before, to twist the wires against the secondpicket, and so on until a sufficient number of pickets have been used toform one panel of a fence. The wires are then attached to the next postI by means of the usual U- shaped keepers or staples, and the operationbefore described is repeated untilthe fence is complete.

It will be observed that each pair of wires is twisted independently ofthe other wires, and this enables me to use irregularly-shaped picketsand to use pickets of varying lengths, some of which may be too short toextend entirely across all of the wires. By this means the farmer isenabled to utilize all of the old fence rails, bars, and short or brokenpickets that may be on the place when building his fence, thus effectinga great economy in the construction of the latter.

Devices thus constructed are extremely cheap and simple, may beconveniently transported from one place to another without loading themupon a wagon, and are adapted for building strong and durable fencesvery rapidly and at slight cost.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- The combination of thetension post or bar 18, the clamping-plates C, and the clip bolts or Intestimony that Ielaim the foregoing as my yokes embracing the post andhaving their ownIhave hereto afiixed my signntnrein presarms passed.through the clamping-plates and ence of two witnesses.

provided with the clamping-nuts, whereby the ALBERT N. OALDXVELL 5plates may be compressed together on oppo- Witnesses:

sit e sides of the wires, for the purpose set forth, RILEY HAUsER,

substantially as descyibed. MICHAEL KEEFE.

